Calvin Pickard steps up again, Oilers tie Stanley Cup final with Game 4 OT win

Joshua Clipperton · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jun 13, 2025 7:55 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Calvin Pickard had yet to spot overmuch action.

The Oilers goaltender entered the fray aft Thursday's disastrous archetypal play wherever his squad failed to conscionable the infinitesimal and near Stuart Skinner hung retired to adust down 3-0 to the Florida Panthers successful Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final.

Edmonton clawed backmost wrong 2 aboriginal successful the 2nd play connected a power-play extremity disconnected the instrumentality of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Pickard was past — astir retired of obscurity — forced to marque a prevention disconnected a turnover that volition beryllium remembered for a agelong clip if the Oilers extremity up hoisting their sixth championship.

The erstwhile journeyman netminder denied Anton Lundell connected that breakaway to support the people astatine 3-1 earlier making a fig of immense stops that acceptable the signifier for Leon Draisaitl's overtime victor arsenic Edmonton defeated Florida 5-4 to adjacent the best-of-seven rubric bid 2-2.

"Gets you feeling better," Pickard said of that prevention connected Lundell. "After that it was beauteous steady. They had immoderate looks, but we had a ton of looks excessively and our resoluteness was fantastic."

The 33-year-old has bailed the Oilers retired earlier this spring.

Pickard replaced a shaky Skinner successful the archetypal circular of the playoffs with Edmonton down 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings. He won his adjacent six starts — with plentifulness of extremity enactment from a high-flying roster led by Draisaitl and Connor McDavid — earlier getting injured successful Game 2 against the Vegas Golden Knights.

"It was frustrating," said Pickard, who finished with 22 stops. "Things were going beauteous well, and past [Skinner] hopped successful determination and played great. I felt for him – helium came acceptable to play [Thursday], made immoderate large saves early. We conscionable didn't person it arsenic a squad early.

"If helium was playing down our squad successful the 2nd and 3rd and overtime, helium would've done what I did."

What the Moncton, N.B., merchandise did was beauteous impressive.

After that halt by Pickard connected Lundell, the Oilers made it 3-2 connected a terrific changeable upstairs from Darnell Nurse earlier Vasily Podkolzin tied things.

Pickard was determination to contradict an Evan Rodrigues redirection precocious successful the 2nd and again connected an Aaron Ekblad power-play accidental earlier the intermission.

"Unbelievable," Nugent-Hopkins said. "Outstanding to beryllium capable to travel successful disconnected the bench, marque immoderate monolithic saves successful immense times."

Jake Walman gave Edmonton a 4-3 pb with nether 7 minutes to spell successful the third, but Sam Reinhart forced OT erstwhile helium scored with 19.5 seconds near successful regulation.

WATCH | Reinhart sends Game 4 to OT: 

Pickard, however, saved his champion for the other play erstwhile helium got capable of Sam Bennett's changeable with his mitt to deflect it disconnected the crossbar.

"Read it beauteous well," helium said of the sequence. "And past I looked successful my mitt and it wasn't successful determination – heard the assemblage oohing and ahhing.

"It was a bully bounce, and past we got one."

That came aboriginal successful OT erstwhile Draisaitl's attempted walk disconnected the unreserved glanced disconnected a Florida defender and recovered its mode past Sergei Bobrovsky.

WATCH | Leon Draisatl's OT winner: 

The Oilers, however, wouldn't person been determination if not for Pickard.

"It's hard to picture the concern that helium gets enactment in," said Draisaitl, whose squad volition big Game 5 connected Saturday astatine what volition beryllium an incandescent Rogers Place. "We're down 3-0. He's coming in, he's cold. It's not casual and helium makes those stops astatine the cardinal moments that we truly request them. He's 1 of the champion successful the league astatine making the close prevention astatine the close time.

"He's been thing but spectacular for us."

Head manager Kris Knoblauch said the determination to Pickard wasn't astir the play disconnected Skinner, who stopped 14 of the 17 shots helium faced aft allowing 5 goals successful some Games 3 and 4.

"Our squad was flat," helium said. "We needed to alteration things up."

Just the sixth goaltender successful NHL past to triumph a Cup last crippled successful relief, Pickard has lone played 184 regular-season games for six antithetic NHL teams since being selected successful the 2nd circular of the 2010 draught by the Colorado Avalanche.

"He's been a journeyman goalie," Knoblauch said. "He's been done it all, and close present he's been enjoying the ride. The thrust past twelvemonth of conscionable becoming a regular NHL goaltender again and past getting arsenic galore starts arsenic he's been getting, and he's earned them.

"I'm not giving him immoderate starts. He's deserved them."

There's apt different 1 coming this weekend.